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‘At the time it was a real shock but I
am not angry with the hospitals or the staff involved with what
happened. It’s the system which needs to change.

‘The
healthcare service should not be part-time. I’m aware that the
Government needs to make cuts to save money but this should not be at
the expense of patients.’

She added: ‘Being angry and placing blame doesn’t bring my father back but I hope something good can come out of his death.

‘I hope that what happened might bring change to the system so another family doesn’t have to suffer like ours has.

‘It has completely destroyed our family and it was something that could have easily been avoided.’

When he collapsed, Mr Leggatt was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary. He was diagnosed quickly but the hospital did not have a surgeon on site as it was the weekend so he had to be transferred to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. He died en route

Andrea, a company director, said despite sending a letter of complaint to the hospital, she has never received a response.

She
said: ‘At the inquest I learnt that if there had been someone there to
operate, there was a 70 per cent chance he would have lived.

‘The operation is really simple and only takes around 40 minutes but it was the delay which killed him.

‘To treat a ruptured abdominal aortic
aneurysm it is like mending a pipe and the vast majority of people
make a full recovery from it.’

The
inquest in Bradford last week heard that Mr Leggatt, a ‘well and active
man’ from Pool-in-Wharfedale, West Yorkshire, had been diagnosed within
20 minutes of arriving at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Paul
Needham, a surgical registrar with the Bradford Teaching Hospitals
Trust at the time, said the transfer represented his best chance.

He said: ‘Our vascular surgical cover that day was provided by Huddersfield.

‘Our view was that a blue-light ambulance transfer would be more rapid than having a surgeon driving across [to Bradford].”

Consultant
vascular surgeon at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, Anver
Mahomed, told the inquest that the two hospitals took turns to provide
acute care cover as part of a formal network arrangement.

Mr Leggatt's daughter, Andrea, said: 'I hope what has happened highlights the fact that the NHS as it stands is a Monday to Friday service. If my father had collapsed on a weekday then the outcome would have been very different'

Assistant Coroner Dominic Bell said: ‘I am satisfied the decision to transfer the patient, though clearly associated with some risk, was appropriate.

‘The original assumption that this death was from natural causes must still stand.’

But he also asked the Bradford Trust to examine and consider adopting the arrangements some other regions have where paramedics can, based on their diagnosis, take patients to the most appropriate, rather than nearest, hospital.

He concluded: ‘The family will inevitably find it distressing to know that if the vascular surgery team had been at Bradford Mr Leggatt would have expected earlier surgery and, on the balance of probabilities, would have survived.

‘That, however, is not an issue that can appropriately be addressed by the individuals in this room.’

Mr Leggatt left a widow, Sue, and his daughter said his death had had a devastating impact on the whole family.

She added: ‘My father was a very charitable man who would do anything for anyone. He was very family orientated and was very involved in community life.

‘He had worked for Leeds City Council for most of his life and he didn’t deserve this kind of treatment.

‘I hope that people in power will take note of this and make the NHS a 24/7 service.

‘I know the economy is in a bad way at the moment but savings should be made from elsewhere.’